


Just Her Trash

by McKayRulez



Series: Spineven [14]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Abandonment, Bad Decisions, Dark Past, Diamond Authority - Freeform, Family, Family Dynamics, Forced Gem Fusion, Jealousy, Neglect, Oblivious, Other, Past Abuse, Past Violence, Revelations, Sad, Toys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-26 00:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20733242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McKayRulez/pseuds/McKayRulez
Summary: Spinel learns of Rose's Landfill, full with just her trash she left behind, brokenhearted.She and Steven also find a key to a certain mysterious chest...





	1. She Left Behind

“Steven!” The short green gem went up to him, asking him if he had something. Spinel didn’t listen to the details. She was too busy feeling jealous of how any gem could steal Steven’s attention so easily. However, what she did listen to was Steven’s response. 

“I don’t, sorry.” 

“There has to be somewhere to find one, on this planet!” 

At the pint sized gem’s insistence, he rubbed the back of his head with a shrug and added, “I guess we could try my mother’s landfill?” 

Curiosity overwhelmed her with a sudden sense of dread. She hesitated and took a step forward, towards the two. “L-landfill?”

“Oh, yeah. I guess Rose didn’t like to throw things away. She has a bunch of junk just sitting around.” 

Spinel bristled, her mind thinking ‘Yeah, she doesn’t throw away, just abandon forever.’ Her whole body tensed at the thought, but Steven hadn’t noticed, as his attention was already back to Peridot. 

“We could try there. That’s where we found her leg ship afterall. So who knows what old gem tech could be lying around there.” 

“Excellent idea, Steven. I knew you’d help.” 

The two made their way to the warp pad. Spinel stood there frozen in thought, before it finally registered to her they were leaving. She quickly shook her head, scratching her hair frustrated and then ran after them. 

“Oh, you’re coming too?” Peridot observed as they stood just before the warp pad. “Your help is very appreciated.” 

“Yeah, yeah.. Whatever.” She brushed it off. That wasn’t really her reason for coming at all but it was a good enough excuse to tag along. 

They beamed to the landfill storage area and Spinel gazed around mortified, as the other two stepped off the platform nonchalaunt. Peridot was already telling Steven what the technology looked like, as they scanned the piles that dotted the area. 

It took Spinel a while before she could finally move. When she could, she practically tackled Steven, as she grabbed hold of his arm. 

He looked down at her startled. Her head was downcast. “Spinel?” 

Finally, she looked up at him, tears streaming down her eyes and his heart hurt at the sight. He grabbed her shoulder with his free hand. “What’s wrong?!” 

She opened and closed her mouth speechless, as he gazed intently at her, until realization dawned, as he realized what such a place could mean to her. “Sh-” He hissed stopping himself from cussing. “I’m sorry, Spinel.” He reach up and cupped her cheek. “I shouldn’t have brought you to a place like this.” 

“No.” Her eyes were still flowing with tears. “I already knew she.. She threw me away. I was just her garbage.” 

He suddenly felt very angry. “You’re not garbage!” 

“Not to you..” She sniffles. “Not to sweet amazing you… But I was to her.” 

Steven felt his stomach clench and his insides twist. They stood there quietly, unsure what else to say, before Peridot interrupted. Her hand held high over her head, holding something. 

“Found it!” 

Steven stared at Spinel’s face for a long moment. “That’s… Good Peridot..” He began to turn his face in her direction, eyes still locked on Spinel’s. “Let’s g-” 

“No!” Spinel grabbed his shirt suddenly and tugged him down closer. 

“Spinel!? I don’t-” 

“Don’t you see? We have to stay here, Steven!” 

“We..” He blinked in shocked confusion. After a pause he cleared his throat. “Peridot.. Can you leave us?.. I have to speak to Spinel alone.” 

“Whatever.” Peridot left the two, disinterested in there drama, as she stared at her device with ideas in her head. 

When she was gone, he suddenly grabbed Spinel back as equally forceful as her own grip on him. “We’re not her trash, Spinel! You have to realize that!”

She shook her head. “That’s not what I meant! I mean what if someone else is here?! What if she threw someone else away and there’s just alone and forgotten here?? We have to look, Steven! We have to be sure!” 

Steven’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to say she wouldn’t have, but instead a memory resurfaced. “Bismuth.” She looked at him confused and he clarified, “Pink bubbled Bismuth and hid her away, so no one would find her. She could have bubbled others.” 

Spinel’s eyes widened and her heart gem was sore. She clung to his shirt. “Please! You have to help me look!” 

Steven nodded, and placed his hand over hers. “Of course.” 

~~

Another dreaded thought had occurred to him during their search. What if there was more cracked gems being used as objects here? Like Lapis? What kind of trauma could that inflict on Spinel’s psyche? The thought made Steven push himself harder. Trying to look through most of the piles himself, before Spinel had the chance to stumble upon such a thing. 

The two picked through the garbage for the rest of the day. Eventually, Steven ran a hand over his sweaty forehead. He had accumulated a small stack of gems that had been objectified, and had made the pile as discreet as possible. He had kept an eye on Spinel, withing for her back to be turned from him, (which was easier said than done considering she didn’t want to leave his side as she was so rattled by it all), before he would break the gem free of it’s placement, quickly toss aside the object and give Spinel a yell that he found one and give it a healing lick. 

The healed gems were very anxious and distrusting. It made sense, given their predicament and how much they had missed. He showed them the warp pad, and let them leave to Homeworld or Little Homeworld of their own accord. Steven realized he should radio the other Diamond’s of their arrival, but he didn’t have the equipment with him here. He would do it later, if the freed gems themselves wouldn’t explain for him. However, some of the repaired gems had been self aware enough as their object counterparts to know Steven had healed them. So those ones trusted him and stayed to help them search for more. 

He was finally going to call it quits for the day, when something glinted and caught his eye, through a pile that Spinel had already combed through. He reached out and pulled the long shiny pink metal from the stack. As he gazed down at it laying in his palm, numbness washed over him and he just stared at the key. 

It took longer than she would have liked to admit, (due to her frantic intense searching) to have finally noticed Steven standing still and unmoving. She stepped over to him carefully. Her shoes squeaking over each piece of trash she stepped over. “What?” She looked down at the key he was holding. She had dismissed and tossed it aside earlier that day. ”Is it.. Is it important or somethin’?” She asked warily and laced her fingers together feeling slightly guilty by his reaction to it. 

“This.. This might be the key.” 

“The key?” She frowned and scratched her head. “The key to what?” 

“The chest..” He looked up at her and realized she had no clue what he was talking about. “Pink kept a treasure chest in Lion’s mane.” 

Spinel blinked not sure why it mattered, while they were doing something as important as lost gem hunting. “Yeah?.. And?” 

“Beside the chest was Bismuth’s gem bubbled.” 

Spinel’s eyes widened in understanding. “You think bubbled gems might be in the chest?” She asked panicked. 

“We’ll I never was sure. That’s why I never tried to break it open incase whatever was inside might shatter.” She quickly grabbed his free hand and was already dragging him to the warp pad. He looked back at the gems still searching and told them where Rose’s healing fountain was if they found more and where Little homeworld was before they left. 

~~

When they warped home, Steven looked around and called out, “Lion! Lion!”

The pink beast slowly got off his bed, and pitter-pattered his way down the stairs. When he got to Steven’s feet, he slumped onto the floor and yawned. 

Spinel had started shaking, and Steven gave her hand a squeeze. She looked up to see his reaffirming smile, before he held his breath and dove them into the Lion’s dimension. 

They pulled the chest out of the mane with forceful tugs before they both fell out roughly landing on their backs with a thump. 

The two quickly scrambled up and knelt over the chest. Steven lined up the key and it fit. There was an audible click, as he turned it and Steven’s body tingled with anticipation. He hesitated laying his hand on the lid, before he drew in a breath. He had wondered for quite a few years now what could have been inside the thing, but to know his mother had hid away the key for a chest already hidden, just for extra measure, made this even more surreal and nerve wracking. 

Spinel laid her hand on the other side of the lid and turned to look at Steven. “... Ready?...” 

He paused. Was there anyway he could actually ready himself for his mother’s dark secrets? He didn’t think so. His body tensed, but he gaze a short sharp nod in response. The two finally slowly opened the lid and stared. 

She shook and he gaped. 

Spinel arose to her feet and turned away, as Steven froze trying to process this. 

Inside the chest was a pink bubbled heart with a data pad beside it with Blue’s face on it. 

After a long moment, Steven finally reached in. Numb fingers picking up the data pad. He hit play and Blue started to speak. 

“Greetings Pink. I hope your colony is doing well? Just remember, you’re a Diamond. Let the gems do their work for you and it’ll all be fine… You must be so excited for your first world!.. Oh! By the way, I hope you enjoy your present! My Sapphire has foreseen you without your playmate.” 

There’s a sigh at that, but it wasn’t Blue, a bit of yellow could just barely be seen out of frame, as Yellow Diamond’s voice chimes in frustrated. “How many times do we have to keep replacing her lost toys, Blue? Just let her deal with the consequences of her actions for a change!” 

Blue brushes that off with a hand wave. “Think of this as a Planet coming present!” She smiles brightly, and that catches Steven off guard. She looked so much happier and younger back then.. Before all the years of mourning.. 

Yellow’s voice adds. “Tell her, we look forward to her first reports and the progress she’s made.” 

Blue chuckles. “Yellow expects homework, Pink!” She waves. “Hope to hear from you soon! Bye!” The message ends. 

Steven wipes away some tears that he never realized he shed. The room is quiet now without the voices of the Diamonds. He looks back and sees Spinel’s fists clenched. 

She shakes. “They replaced me. They replaced me just like all her other toys.” 

“Spinel?” 

“I saw them replace Pink Pearl when Pink broke her eye. I.. I.. Clods Steven!” She turns to him, tears flowing down her cheeks. “I was happy! Happy they replaced her with someone so dull! I was always jealous of the time She and her Pearl had.. I.. I thought now that the new Pearl wasn’t fun.. She’d grow bored of it and play with me more.” She slams her fist against the wall, eyes closed tightly. “I WAS HAPPY!? ISN’T THAT SICK!? She.. Pink Pearl was my friend too, but I.. I just..” She looks distant. “I just valued Pink’s attention so much more.” She hugs her arms and falls to her knees. “I should have seen it coming. I should have known..” 

Steven doesn’t know what to say. He stares at her sadly and crawls over to her. He pulls her against him and wraps his arms around her tightly. She lays her head against his shoulder and sobs.


	2. Forced Fusion

A few weeks later, Steven stared at the bubbled heart in the chest and his table, as he had been doing everyday since they found it. He sighed. 

He didn’t like keeping gems bubbled. 

He knew to the gem inside, no time would pass as they perceived it. It would be as still and ageless as the day it was first bubbled. They would miss everything around them and have no clue until the bubble popped. A life of clueless, frozen bliss, only to be shattered by reality of time hitting them like a truck as they form. 

Needless to say, Steven didn’t like keeping a gem so oblivious and helpless when he could do something about it.

The problem was, he knew it would hurt Spinel greatly and it would cause problems for the unsuspecting gem. 

It wasn’t like the other gems they had freed in the landfill. 

This one hit too close to home for her. 

Spinel resented it. Hated it even. 

So Steven had decided to wait until she cooled off.. Though.. Given how stubborn Spinel could get when the simplest thought rooted itself in her head, he was slightly afraid it would take a few hundred years, which.. In gem lifetimes would be much.. But it would give Steven a lot of guilt in the time being. 

Regardless, he got up and got ready for his own new day. 

The Diamonds were coming to tour Little Homeworld and evaluate it’s progress. He knew it was mostly an excuse to spend time with him, but for once it was a welcome distraction from his thoughts of Spinel’s replacement. 

~~

“What are those things?” Spinel had asked him, while she and the Diamonds Steven took their tour of Little Homeworld. She walked with Steven hand in hand happily. 

She had pointed with her free gloved hand at a tangle of hands, that was helping Bismuth carry supplies. She had never seen that type of Earth creature before. 

Steven felt a sickness in his gem stomach, when he saw what she was curious to know about. 

“They’re.. Forced fusions.” He winced hoping Spinel wasn’t too interested about it, as much as he guessed she was. He didn’t want to explain it to her. She was already a bit overly clingy (which is saying something considering how clingy she normally is), and rather moody about the spare Spinel problem. He didn’t want to lay more trauma on her right now. 

The forced fusions themselves were actually nice now like the Cluster. It probably helped that they had so much time with Connie's Mother’s clinic. 

Spinel blinked confused, then took a closer look, extending a long cartoonish eye at the thing. 

She squeaked and her eye snapped back into place. “Those are gem bits all clustered together!” 

“Yeah.” He sighed. 

Blue looked wistful for barely a half second, (the way she got when she thought of Pink), but it instantly vanished as she made a sorrowful face and looked away. Yellow made no comment. 

Spinel knew Steven would never… She turned and looked at them accusingly. “Why did you do that!?” She yelled. She was already on edge around them, knowing they replaced her, so she was reaching her breaking point in regards to them. 

“It was a geo weapon. I said I was sorry.” Yellow answered dismissively. 

Spinel felt incredibly disturbed. If she had been one of their Spinel’s and they had grown tired of her, would they have just shattered her instead of abandoned her like Pink? 

At the same time she couldn’t technically be mad at a ‘geo weapon’ explanation since.. well.. her injector and all… 

However still! Breaking their gems like that! 

She used this as an excuse to cling onto Steven’s shoulder tightly. He moved an arm around her waist in support. 

Blue had been quiet, but finally she said something barely above a whisper. “They were her creations.” She had the same confused tenderness as Steven had seen her with the bubbled Rose Quartz gems. The same, I should hate these, but I can’t because of her expression and tone of voice. 

“Huh?” Steven looked to Blue confused. 

When Blue didn’t speak, Yellow sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Not the geo weapon of course, but the smaller ‘test subjects’.. She started the research.” 

“She?..” Steven gaped in disbelief. “What?” 

“We didn’t start the idea. We never even had an interest in regular cross gem fusion.” White stated as if that should be obvious, which.. Steven supposed was true in a way, but the implication made no sense. 

“Why would she want a geo weapon? She fought to protect-” 

White cut him off gently with a raise of her hand, “Stars Steven, Starlight wasn’t making a geo weapon.” 

“Then..?” Steven was so confused. All he felt was the sudden adrenaline and pounding heart in his chest from his angry assumption, slowly leaving him. 

Finally, Blue broke the silence. “She had been so curious about fusion…” 

~~

Blue still remembered stumbling in on her sticking a shard piece of Amethyst and Sapphire together and her shedding a tear on it to fuse the pieces. 

“What are you doing?” Blue had asked horrified. 

Pink had just turned and looked at her with an excited grin. 

“Isn’t fusion fascinating!?” 

“Fusion?.. Who-..” Blue stopped and stared stunned. She recomposed herself as best as she could. She was a Diamond after all. “Who told you about fusion?” 

“I saw a Sapphire and Ruby fuse! It was beautiful!” Pink turned to her stuck together gems that where trying to form. They glowed into writhing limbs of pure light, until they settled back down into a purple foot and blue hued hand meshed together. 

Pink stared at it as if it was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. 

Blue watched her reaction wide eyed, and held her arms disturbed. 

Now as she recounted the events, she realized that maybe she should have wondered how Pink saw the scuffle in her court with her Sapphire and her ruby attendant. Pink hadn’t been there to witness it, but she had been too dissuaded by Pink disturbingly drastic change in behaviour at the time and the rising was with Rose to give it much thought. Besides, that Garnet would soon became famous during the war after all. A beacon of change and possibility. Of course, Pink would have heard about it by then.. Just not as soon as she did... 

Steven and Spinel listened to her speak and then, by the time the tour continued, everyone was thoughtfully silent. Even Spinel’s shoes didn’t squeak as loud as they usually did.


End file.
